Whether a person is a serious gamer or just likes to play casually, they might wonder what is a good internet speed for gaming. When Internet speeds are low, playing an online game can be annoying. Even a skilled gamer can start losing because of the slow speed. Fortunately, it’s not too hard for a gamer to find out what speeds they need to make their online gaming experience an enjoyable one.
Understanding Internet Speed for Playing Games
Before a person wonders how many mbps do i need for gaming, they have to understand what their Internet connection is all about. There are three areas of concern for gamers: Download speed, upload speed, and ping rate. Each one can have an impact on online gaming performance. Some people concentrate too much on download speed and not enough on how much their upload speeds tend to be.
The Basics of Upload Speed for Gaming
Once a person knows what three things to look for, they can start to get a better understanding of what they need. Download speed is usually much higher than upload speed. Download speed is how fast a person’s Internet connection allows them to get data from a host. Upload speed refers to how fast an individual can send data from their device to others on the Internet. Ping rate refers to how quickly a response is received after a computer sends out a request on the Internet.
What’s Ideal Download Speed?
A game has to understand that what is a good upload speed for gaming today or a good download speed can change in the future. As of now, an ideal download speed for online gaming is at least 3 Mbps. The minimum upload speed is about 0.5 Mbps. Ping rate should be under 150 milliseconds. Ping rate can be affected by distance. That’s why some gaming servers group together gamers by region. A gamer who plays with people on a different continent might see their ping rate drop.
How Data Caps Effect Your Performance
People who have to deal with restrictive data caps might wonder about how much data does online gaming use. That’s because they can end up having to pay extra if they stream or game too much. The amount of data used varies by game. Some titles might use 1 gigabyte of data per hour, while others might use as little as 10 MB/hr. So a gamer who deals with a restrictive Internet provider has to worry more about looking at the individual games that they are playing.
Getting A Better Gaming Experience
After learning all the basics, a gamer still might wonder how to improve internet speed for gaming. There are a few things that can be done. It’s always better to play with a hardwired connection as opposed to a wireless one. That means having an Ethernet cable plugged directly into a router. If a person has to use a wireless connection, they should invest in high-quality equipment that won’t drop the signal. Cheaper equipment can also produce gaming lag.
More On Getting A Better Experience
Using a wired connection isn’t the only thing that can be done to improve Internet speeds. Closing down programs that are hogging up resources can improve connection speed. This is especially true when using computers for gaming. A person has to manually check for programs that might be running in the background and taking up Internet speed. Getting an Internet package that can provide enough speed for the entire household is important. That will allow a gamer to play their games while others are streaming movies or also gaming. A serious gamer should usually by the best tier connection that their provider offers.
What About Streaming To Other Gamers?
Nowadays, more and more gamers love to stream their gaming sessions. If a person wants to stream, they will want a higher upload speed. They will need at least 4 Mbps is they want to live stream a basic high-definition video. For better quality, more speed will be needed.
Testing Your Internet Speeds
A person should regularly test their speeds and ping rate to make sure they are getting what the service is supposed to be providing. An individual’s service provider might have to send a technician out to do some work if the speeds aren’t as advertised. If a person is using a wireless connection, it might just be there equipment that is causing the performance issue. They should test the hardwired speed to find out if the problem persists.
Gaming in the modern era relies a lot on the Internet. There are more titles than ever that make an Internet connection mandatory in order to play. Unfortunately, some gamers are stuck with only one ISP in their area that might offer connection speeds that just don’t cut it. Gamers can do some things to improve their Internet speeds, but sometimes the low speeds are out of their control.
